Acculturation and Ethnicity in Consumer Behavior

Acculturation and Ethnicity in Consumer Behavior The concepts Acculturation and ethnicity are often used by the researcher to describe consumption experiences of ethnic minority consumers. This paper presents a review of the relationship between cultural process, specifically what has been termed Acculturation, and how it helps to understand consumer behavior of ethnic minority consumers. Consumer Acculturation is a socialization process in which an immigrant, or marginalizes consumer learns the behavior, attitude and values of a culture that are different from those of their culture of origin (Lee 1998). Ethnic groups are ..any group which is defined or set off by race, religion, or national origin, or some combination of these categories, (Gordon, 1964, p.27). Historically Acculturation has been primarily shown as a one-way process where the microculture adopts the dominant cultures norms without corresponding influences. This paper looks for explain the impact of acculturation on consumer purchase decisions of ethnic minority gr oup and how it helps to understand consumer behavior of ethnic minority group. INTRODUCTION: Minority ethnic audience in all over the world represents a significant cultural and consumer force. Increasing ethnic and cultural diversity- like other forms of social change represents both a threat and an opportunity to marketers. New consumer segment can provide fresh sources of top-line growth with focused new product development to the marketer. And for that producer has to be aware of the cultural change among the ethnic minority consumer. Acculturation provides a qualitative overview of how cultural differences of the larger minority ethnic communities affect their consumer behavior. Acculturation and Ethnicity in Consumer Behavior: Acculturation and Assimilation: Redfield, Linton and Herskovits (1936,p.149) ) define acculturation as those phenomena which result when group of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent change in the organizational culture patterns of either or both groups. Under this definition, acculturation is to be distinguished from culture-change, of which it is but one aspect, and assimilation, which is at times a phase of acculturation. Acculturation is a process of adopting the believes and behavior of one culture group by another cultural group. The direction of adaptation can be a minority group adopting habits and language patterns of the dominant group, and can be other way- that is, the dominant group also adopt patterns typical of the minority group. The changes may take place in dominant culture, the subculture or both groups, according to Berry (1977); in practice Acculturation tends to produce more substantial change in one of the groups. Assimilation of one c ulture group into another may be evidence by changes in language preference, adoption of common attitude and values, membership in common social groups, and loss of the separate political or ethnic identity. Many researchers have used the term acculturation and assimilation interchangeably, or in some case, the meaning has overlapped (Gordon 1964). To ass to the confusion, different disciplines use the terms to mean different concepts (Berry and Annis 1974; Padilla 1980). For example, sociologists like Gordon (1964), typically use the term assimilation to describe encounters between ethnic groups and the cultural negotiation process to find common ground. In contrast anthropologists prefer the term acculturation to describe the same cultural negotiation process (Gordon 1964). A review of the consumer acculturation literature reveals a similar inconsistency. Therefore, it is important to relay the predominant difference between assimilation and acculturation in terms of their usage in the consumer acculturation context and the next outcome of the cultural negotiations. While assimilation occurs when an immigrant fully adopts mainstream values and gives up their cultural heritage, accultur ation can occur when some elements of the mainstream culture and added without abandoning the native culture ( Berry 1980; Padilla 1980; Wallendorf and Reilly 1983; Jun, Ball et al 1993; Rossman 1994). Consumer Acculturation: Consumer Acculturation is a subset of acculturation and socialization. While acculturation is more general, consumer acculturation is specific to the consumption process. Consumer acculturation can be seen as a socialization process in which an immigrant consumer learns the behaviors, attitude and values of a culture that are different from their culture of origin (Lee 1988). Webster (1994) views ethnic identity as a subset of acculturation and assimilation as a mode of acculturation. In the Websters study, ethnic identification is operationalised by determining which language is used in the home. Webster believes the combination of the ethnic identification and self-identification captures assimilation dimensions. Laroche, Kim and Tomiuk (1998) state that the primary different between the two constructs is that ethnic identity measures focus on maintenance/retention of the culture of origin and acculturation measures focus on acquisition of the host culture. Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity: Although closely related, ethnicity and ethnic identity are two separate constructs. Ethnicity is an objective description and refers to a group with common national or religious background. In contrast, ethnic identity is more subjective ( Cohen 1978; Hirschman 1981; Minor 1992) and is a self-designation which relays a persons commitment and strength of association to a particular group (Zaff, Blount, Philips and Cohen 2002; Chung and Fischer 1999). The concept of acculturation refers to a process or change. Ethnic identity , on the other hand, refers to a status, which may or may not be statics. Thus the strength of ethnic identity may influence the level of acculturation as suggested by Penazola and Gilly (1999) and others. The contrasts of the ethnic identity and acculturation are neither parallel nor opposite of each other; rather they influence and shape each other. Measurement of Acculturation Constructs: Measures of acculturation typically attempt to determine the extent which a person has adopted to a new culture (Magana et al 1996) and the resulting behavioral changes that occurs a result of the contact (Ward and Arzu 1999). There has been a great deal of variation in the measurement of acculturation and ethnicity in both the social science and the consumer behavior literature. Some factors, either individually or in combinations, that have been considered in the measurement are language, reference groups, intermarriage, identity, culture (Laroche, Kim and Tomiuk 1998; Lee and Um 1992), and religion (Hirschman 1981). Communication based measures =, such as media usage, have also been used (O Guinn and Faber 1985; Kim, Laroche et al. 1990).

The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Internet Essay

The Advantages and Disadvantages of The Internet Essay Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Advantages of Internet 3.0 Disadvantages of Internet 4.0 Conclusion 1.0 Introduction Modern life has become easier and the people of the world have to thanks to the immense contribution of the internet technology to communication and information sharing. There is no doubt that internet has made our life become easier and more convenient. We can use internet to communicate with people around the world, doing business by using internet, make new friend and know different cultures, searching information, studying and etc. The internet not only allows for communication through email but also ensures easy availability of information, images, and products amongst other things. Every day the internet continues to provide a new facility, something new that is immensely convenient and that makes life more easier for web users. However, the internet also contains some unwanted elements or disadvantages. The following are the advantages and disadvantages of the internet. 2.0 Advantages of the Internet Firstly, the internet can let a person to communicate with people in virtually any parts of the world through the internet or e-mail, without having to leave his room. E-mail allowed peoples to communicate with minimum of times. It is now possibles to send a message to any parts of the world through a simple e-mail address and the message is delivered in matter of seconds. Every companies is using e-mail in business. The convenience of e-mail has allowed businesses to expand and communicates with their vendors and customers located all over the world in records times. Personal communication has also become more easier thanks to e-mail. Chat rooms, video conferencing are some of the latest additions in this technology and these have allowed peoples to chat in real time. Besides, there are a lot of messengers services in offering. With the help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship where you can share your thoughts and explore other cultures . The internet also allows people within an organization to easily communicate and share informations. Second, information is probably the biggest advantages that internet offers. Internet is a virtual treasures trove of information. Any kinds of information on any topic under the sun is available on the internet. The search engines like Google, Yahoo are at your service through the internet. There is a huge amount of information available on the internet for just about every subjects known to man, ranging from government law and services, trade fairs and conferences, market information, new ideas and technical support, the lists is simply endless. We can uses these search engines, websites dedicated to different subjects and large amount of articles and papers are available for perusal in a matter of a few seconds. Forums on a number of sites allow peoples to discuss and share their thoughts and informations with others located at different places all over the world. Whether this information is the latest news happenings in the world or information about your favourite celebrity, everything is available at your finger tips. A huge cache of data is available on the internet on every single subjects. With this storehouse of information people can not only increases their knowledge bank but can do so without wasting their time through traditional means such as visiting libraries and conducting exhaustive research. With internet, students can save their times to search for information and using their time to do other works. This is particularly relevant for students who can use this wealth of information for their school projects and also learn new things about the subjects they are interested in. In fact this internet is for many schools and universities that are now able to assigns projects and work to the students and follows their progress which can be easily posted on the school or university internal websites. Online education has grown at a very fast pace since internet allow the development and uses of innovative tools for imparting education. University students and lecturers can communicate through internet. Besides, some universities are also offerings far distances courses to make study become more inefficient and convenience. Internet become a gateway for those who wants to learn but cannot afford the living fees at foreign countries. Thirdly, entertainments is another popular reasons why many people prefer to surf the internet. In fact, the internet has becomes quite successful in trapping the multifaceted entertainment industry. Downloading games or just surfing the celebrity websites are some of the uses people have discovered. Even celebrities are using the internet effectively for promotional campaigns. Besides that, there are numerous games that can be downloaded for free. The industry of online gaming has tasted dramatic and phenomenal attentions by game lovers. The internet has also revolutionized the entertainments industry. People nowadays no need to go to a cinema hall to watch your favourite movie. Instead of watching movies at cinema now have companies offering their services where you just can downloads or order your favourite movie and watch it with a fast internet connection. Besides that, you also can download other important software or your favourite music in a matter of few minutes. There are a number of shareware programs that allow you to share and download your favourite music and videos. The internet also allows people from different cultures and background to connect with each other. Internet gaming is a huge business and allow enthusiastic gamers to compete against each other in games even when they are located far apart. Likewise dating has also allowed people to find their prospective soul mates. Through the internet, shopping has also got a complete makeover thanks to the contributions of the internet. You have many website selling a varieties of products online and one just need to select or bid for the desired product and entire financial transactions can be conducts through the internet. E commerce has got a facilities because of the internet and entire global business deals can be conducted over the internet. Transfer of money is also no longer a times consuming job and with just a click of a button you can easily transfers funds to any place you wish. Some of these services of courses come at a price. The internet has made life very convenient. With numerous online services you can now performs all your transaction online. You can books tickets for a movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills, taxes etc, and right from your home. Some travel websites even plans an itinerary as per your preferences and take care of airline tickets, hotel reservation etc. by using internet, consumers can compare the prices of product before making decisions to purchase. People who believes that impacts of internet on students is positives said that internet help students by providing them the handy material and resources for their studies. It is a big reality that now students takes a lots of help from internet. Students have any problem regarding their studies or their daily life they can finds lots of solutions of that problem from internet. There they can find out articles of scholar and other professional people which would be helpful for them. They can take lectures from different academics on different topics. One of the most important benefits of internet is that students can earn from internet through bloggers. Students can take interest on earning through internet. It would be a great source of income for them and also it would provide them a big experience of writing. The students who are interested in media and wanted to be a writer in the future must do this work. This would increase their professional skills which would lead them towards great future. Students can also use internet for the social connectivity and there are lots of social media websites which mostly students use for social networking. Such as Facebook, Twitter, Weibo etc are the famous social networking site. Students can contact themselves with the foreign students and discuss them on different issue to enhance their skills and knowledge. By using internet wisely, students can get many information to enrich their knowledge. 3.0 Disadvantages of the Internet However, for all its advantages and positive aspects, the internet has its dark and ugly side too. The recent rumours that mongering about racial riots in Kuala Lumpur which in created a furores, just goes to show how this tool, with its unrivalled reputation as an information assassinations and company reputations can suffer if internet facilities are abused, especially by those with an axe to grind. Besides that some students will spend too much of time through the internet. Students are likely to neglect their studies. If the movie has too strong a hold even elderly people are likely to neglect some their important work. Students might lose concentrate on their studies because they spent too much time on internet. Some of them canà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t even divide their time to do homework but they spent their time on watching movie or chatting with their friends through internet. While the internet has made life easier for people in many ways it is also reflecting an uglier side to its existence through a number of problems that it has thrown up for its users. With a large amount of information freely available on the internet theft and misuse of this information is a likely possibility. Time and again you see cases of people using someone elses information and research and passing it off as their own. Children nowadays seem losing their ability to communicate with others. They are used to communicate with others via internet but they cannot communicate with others face by face fluent. It was a strange sight that internet had make people losing their ability to communicate. It is because people now are over depending on internet. Another problem or disadvantage of the internet is that it has allowed a great deal of anonymity to a large number of people who may access the different websites, forums and chat rooms available. This has allowed perverted individuals to at times take advantage of innocent people and abuse their trust. We can always hear from news that cheaters used internet to make crimes. The cheaters will make friends with single ladies and cheat them by using sweet words. Lonely single ladies are very easy get in trap of these cheaters. These cheaters normally will cheat these ladies to bank-in money to them. Some of the cheaters try to borrow money from these ladies. There are a host of games that are available on the internet and this has made most children to shun all outdoor activity. In the absence of physical activity, children can easily fall prey to a lot of lifestyle related diseases such as obesity, apart from failing to develop interpersonal skills. Apart from these factors, sitting continuously in front of a computer screen can seriously damage our eyes, and put a strain on our neck and shoulders. Children are in their developing years and these factors can create life-long problems for them. Children will become more violence because affected by internet games. There are too many internet games that contain violence content and it may affect negative influence to children. Another disadvantage of internet is harmful to little children. Children nowadays are explored to internet and they are used to maintain internet as their daily life. This is one of the greatest threats internet poses to children. Internet has provided an easy medium to children to gain access to pornography and this can cause them to either become sexually-deviant or sexually-addictive. This phenomenon has also caused another problem, and that is the increase in prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in children. According to reports, one out of every four teenagers gets infected with a STD every year. The adult content that is present on the internet promotes irresponsible sex and creates false notions in the minds of students. If you have been following news lately then you must know what we are referring to. Children have been lured by paedophiles posing as good Samaritans and have been physically abused and molested. Internet has also made it easy for unscrupulous elements to get in touch with children and this has led to an increase in the cases of kidnapping and identity thefts. About 60% young teens in the United States have admitted to responding to messages from strangers. This kind of behaviour is extremely risky and has made children extremely vulnerable to become victims of cyber-crime. 4.0 Conclusion The points mentioned above have posed new challenges to teachers and parents. There are demands from various quarters that there should be some sort of regulation to check this issue. However, we believe that instead of making internet a taboo, we should educate children to use it for their benefit. It is advisable for parents to monitor how much time their children spend on the internet, and if possible set a time-limit till which they would be allowed to use the internet. Having the computer in the living-room instead of a childs bedroom can also ensure censorship on what they are accessing on the internet. It is also important that you talk to them about the birds and the bees because if you do not talk to them, they will turn to their friends and internet for answers which may not provide authentic information. Parents play important role in this content and they have to pay attention on their children despite them get affected by internet. Although studies on this disorder are in preliminary stages, it has been established that children who spend most of their time on the internet, show a peculiar kind of behaviour which is marked by an urge to be on the internet all the time, so much that the child may show all activities and become immersed in the virtual world. Surveys conducted over the years have found that most people who suffer from Internet addiction disorder are young adults, who easily fall into the lure of exploring everything that is available on the internet. In America alone, it has been estimated that around 10-15 million people are suffering from internet addiction disorder, and this is increasing at the rate of 25% every year. Internet had controlled some of them who are depending internet in their life activities. Most of them will get mad if they cannot connect to internet. It becomes a kind of physiology sickness around us. The internet focused on the negative effects, it in no way means that we are undermining the importance of internet in our lives. We have written this article for the internet audience, and you are reading it through the internet, which itself explains the positive side of internet usage. It is for us to decide whether we use technology for the betterment of our lives or put it to unabated abuse. Children may not be mature enough to understand this, but us as parents, teachers and guardians need to ensure that we inculcate the right behaviour in our children. Lastly, we have to take the responsibilities to guide out children to use internet wisely and ensure them to get right information from internet.

Lincolns Legacy :: essays research papers

Lincoln's Legacy A legacy is something that is passed down from a predecessor. Lincoln's legacy is the teachings that he had wanted all of us, as American citizens, to live by. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln explained what our responsibilities as American citizens are. His concepts tie all off U.S. history together and aid the prosperity of our country. In the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln stated that all men are created equal. He was restating the beliefs of Thomas Jefferson when Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln was trying to explain to us that unity plays a major role in our lives. Just as Jefferson stated many years previously, we must treat all men as our brothers in order to keep the American society united. Lincoln also stated that a great civil war is something that is very difficult for a nation to endure. The Constitution states that we must create and maintain a more perfect union. That is impossible when we are fighting against ourselves. Lincoln said that "A house divided against itself can not stand." This is what James Madison, "the father of the constitution," meant in the constitution. We must compromise to solve our disagreements and keep our country together. The idea that many men had died for our country and that we should not forget them was strongly emphasized in he Gettysburg Address. In the Bill of Rights it is conveyed that no person should be deprived of their basic rights. These men that died in order that we could all be sovereign, and that nobody could own anyone else, were deprived of everything when their lives were taken. It is our responsibility to never forget what they have so bravely done for us.

The Enlightenment :: European Europe History

The Enlightenment The Enlightenment is a name given by historians to an intellectual movement that was predominant in the Western world during the 18th century. Strongly influenced by the rise of modern science and by the aftermath of the long religious conflict that followed the Reformation, the thinkers of the Enlightenment (called philosophes in France) were committed to secular views based on reason or human understanding only, which they hoped would provide a basis for beneficial changes affecting every area of life and thought. The more extreme and radical philosophes-Denis Diderot, Claude Adrien Helvetius, Baron d'Holbach, the Marquis de Condorcet, and Julien Offroy de La Mettrie (1709-51)--advocated a philosophical rationalism deriving its methods from science and natural philosophy that would replace religion as the means of knowing nature and destiny of humanity; these men were materialists, pantheists, or atheists. Other enlightened thinkers, such as Pierre Bayle, Voltaire, David Hume, Jean Le Rond D'alembert, and Immanuel Kant, opposed fanaticism, but were either agnostic or left room for some kind of religious faith. All of the philosophes saw themselves as continuing the work of the great 17th century pioneers-Francis Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Leibnitz, Isaac Newton, and John Locke-who had developed fruitful methods of rational and empirical inquiry and had demonstrated the possibility of a world remade by the application of knowledge for human benefit. The philosophes believed that science could reveal nature as it truly is and show how it could be controlled and manipulated. This belief provided an incentive to extend scientific methods into every field of inquiry, thus laying the groundwork for the development of the modern social sciences. The enlightened understanding of human nature was one that emphasized the right to self-expression and human fulfillment, the right to think freely and express one's views publicly without censorship or fear of repression. Voltaire admired the freedom he found in England and fostered the spread of English ideas on the Continent. He and his followers opposed the intolerance of the established Christian churches of their day, as well as the European governments that controlled and suppressed dissenting opinions. For example, the social disease which Pangloss caught from Paquette was traced to a "very learned Franciscan" and later to a Jesuit. Also, Candide reminisces that his passion for Cunegonde first developed at a Mass. More conservative enlightened thinkers, concerned primarily with efficiency and administrative order, favored the "enlightened despotism" of such monarchs as Emperor Joseph II, Frederick II of Prussia, and Catherine II of Russia.

All City Choir :: essays research papers

What do you think about when you think of singing? Do you think about the latest rock or pop craze? Or do you think about some opera singer on stage? For me, when I think about singing, I think about All City Choir.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All City Choir is a try-out choir made up of about 60 kids in grades four through eight who’ve come together to sing. We also have three awesome conductors Wendy Gee, Wendy Masciotra (or who we call Mrs. M), and Eva Bettger and we sing from September through April in our two seasons: Christmas Season and Spring Season.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In All City Choir, we also learn how to sing properly in many different ways. The first thing you learn is how to breath properly. We’re not allowed to breath like this (with your shoulders), but naturally like this (with your stomach). This is what my conductors call â€Å"tummy power†. One of the warm ups the choir conductors make us do are these huge sighs that start from the top of your voice and go down to the bottom of your voice to warm up our vocal chords and get us to breath properly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another technique we have to learn in choir practice is we learn now to pronounce vowels and consonants correctly. An example of that would be pronouncing out â€Å"D†s as light â€Å"T†s. We also have to keep our mouth round and you cannot smile while you’re singing or else it ruins the effect of the vowels. One thing we always always must do is to pronounce the consonants loudly. What our conductors always make us do to help us remember this is to say â€Å"We LoVe ouR CoNSoNaNTS!†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The last, but probably one of the most important things we have to do when we sing, is to listen to each other and to sing with the mood of the music. If it is a soft song we are singing, then we can’t sing loudly in the piece, and if it is a song requiring a lot of energy, we have to be enthusiastic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One piece we sang this year was called â€Å"Reflections of a Lad at Sea†. Our conductor for the last movement (Mrs. Gee) was always nagging us to add more energy into the song. The last movement was called â€Å"Ghost Ship† which was a story about a ghost ship a sailor had seen one night.

Pepsi vs Coke Brand Positioning

Week 5: Branding and Positioning Reading: * Articles – Please be sure to read all articles and view all videos listed. They are short but insightful. 1. Interbrand Names 100 Best Global Brands http://www. marketingpilgrim. com/2010/09/interbrand-names-100-best-global-brands. html 2. What P&G Taught Me About Brands http://maxbrandequity. com/Documents/What%20PG%20taught%20me%20about%20Brands. pdf 3. The Power of Brand Equity http://www. thinkingleaders. om/archives/964 Questions: Write what you believe are the current global brand positionings for Coke and Pepsi (the brands, not the companies)? Few other companies in the world have been able to construct and manage their brands as well as these companies. Much of the successful of these companies can be attributed to way in which they have managed their soft drink brands. Coke has positioned itself as an integral, crucial part of people’s everyday lives.The brand, particularly through its commercials, creates intimac y with its consumers by evoking memories and experiences with the brand and their unique selling proposition â€Å"live the Coke side of life† is a prime example of this. It’s an invitation to live on the positive side of life, with Coke. It invites people to create their own positive reality and overall says, only Coke will do because essentially, Coke is happiness in a bottle. Importantly, from a global marketing perspective, it allows each country the opportunity to interpret their own moments of happiness and the brand’s role in those moments.Pepsi’s new global brand positioning (announced this year) is reflected in their caption â€Å"Live for Now† which invites and inspires Pepsi fans to live each moment to the fullest through a breadth of global, pop-culture platforms, including relationships with music and entertainment brand evangelists, digital innovation, epic events and unique partnerships. This positioning enables the brand to pursue n ew partnerships with some of the world’s leading artists and entertainment properties.Do you believe the global positioning is different from the positioning these brands are utilizing in your home country? If yes, please provide the positioning in your home country and explain why you think it is different. The global positioning of Coke and Pepsi is the same around the world by way of general theme and overall message, however due to the differences in culture and society across the globe, the execution of the company’s respective positionings must be different for each of the markets that they serve.As each country/region of the world is quite different, it is imperative that the message is tailored in a way that is relevant and best captures the target market. For example, the recent Coke advertisement in Australia depicts a group of friends playing around on a boat off the coast (presumably of Australia) which clearly taps into the Australian beach culture. This m essage of joy and happiness is still carried but it’s made more relevant to the particular market which it is serving by the way in which the message is constructed and contextualised.The Interbrand report indicates that the Coke brand is much more valuable as an asset than the Pepsi brand. Please explain why you believe this is true, being sure to comment on: a. Strength of positioning – Coke has positioned itself more emotively than Pepsi as is evident in many of Coke‘s advertisements over the years which moreso depict the human experience through a strong emphasis on families and the community. b.Key points of parity and points of difference – both emotive in their message, but different in that Coke really taps into the general consumer’s happy experience with the brand, whereas Pepsi I believe is more targeted (particularly to the youth market) and has the image of being high-energy and action-oriented, and I think a large part of their target audience associate themselves with the brand because of that image. They are similar in that both brands consider themselves to be bold and refreshing. c.Whether any of these points of difference are competitive advantages – Coke’s positioning, with its strong association to feelings of joy and happiness, I believe gives it a competitive advantage in that these feelings and positive connections with happiness give it timeless appeal, whereas Pepsi seems to be more in-the-moment and almost â€Å"timely† by comparison. Coke, I feel, represents a state of permanent happiness whereas Pepsi is all about excitement, which we all know, is an emotion that is often fleeting. This position of happiness/longevity, I believe, is more attractive to consumers. . Line extension strategy Having a strong brand that consumers are loyal to allows an organization to extend its line of products and bring to market new products more easily.If Coke’s brand is stronger and bette r positioned (which I believe it is), then by extension, it will be of greater value since the introduction of new products can more easily be made, and therefore, new revenue streams open up for the company. There are, of course, risks associated with line extension, however if managed well, leveraging an existing brand can be of enormous financial benefit to a company. . International presence – I think Coke’s broader appeal to such human states as joy and happiness allows the brand to resonate more strongly across cultures whereas Pepsi, with its greater reliance on pop-culture and entertainment artists makes it more restricted in its global reach. Clearly, Michael Jackson will have less appeal in a developing country than in the United States, however Coke’s association with feelings of joy, family and life more generally can, as a message, be more easily carried across borders and into countries.

Paragraph About Elasticity and Inelasticity

Elasticity is the degree to which demand for a service or a good varies from its price. What happens most of the times is that when there are price decreases, sales increase and viceversa. This is known as elastic demand. For example, bicycles, sodas, jeans, cars have elastic demand because when they are cheap everyone wants to buy them, but when the price increases, people stop doing so (demand depends on the price). This happens with products such as this because they are not totally essential on people? s lifes (one can live without it); instead of gas (which is a product classified in inelastic demand) because people will always need it.Elasticity is important because it helps organizations decide on the best course of action regarding the service or the product. Also, it helps the government impose a new tax (when a new tax is imposed, the prices rise). If the demand is very elastic it will considerably fall when the price has risen and the government will not be able to earn ex pected revenue. Affects monopoly as well, If demand is very elastic, the effect of monopoly on prices is quite limited. In contrast, if the demand is relatively inelastic, monopolies will increase prices by a large margin.Hence, elasticity helps both companies and government understand is what is being done produces results or not. In order to measure the rate of response of quality demanded due to a price change, there is the Price Elasticity of Demand (PEoD): (% change in quality demanded)/(% change in price). Factors that can influence this calculation include costs of switching between products, and the importance of the good (is it necessary? ). Moreover, we have what is known as price elasticity of supply, measuring the relationship between change in quality supplied and a change in price.The formula for calculating: is (%change in quality supplied)/(%change in price). There are also factors that can influence this calculation, such as spare capacity, stocks, time periods, etc . Therefore, the income elasticity of supply is the response of quantity demanded and supplied due to a change in consumer disposable income. Also, it is very important to have in mind the cross elasticity of supply. This is the acceptance of the supply of good A to the change in price of the good B. For example: a farmer grows potatoes and carrots.The cross elasticity of supply of carrots against potatoes is how much supply of carrots will change is the price of potatoes changes. Furthermore, inelasticity is a situation where the supply and demand for a good are unaffected when the price of that service or product changes. Even if the price goes higher, the demand will remain the same because people need of thee in order to survive. As I mentioned before, this is the case of gas since people need it, even if they complain about it prices they would, still need to buy it. Other examples of products with inelasticity are bread, medicines, milk and water (most of them are recurring).